The present invention relates to a hinge with lifting-out protection, particularly for turnable and releasable connection of side walls of commercial vehicles with a chassis.
Hinges of the above-mentioned general type are known in the art and they must satisfy an important requirement that the respective side wall in raised condition must be secured against an unauthorized lifting-out. This is important especially when the respective commercial vehicle is used in a transit traffic with sealed storage space, wherein changes of the stored products must be prevented. Furthermore, such hinges must provide for a safe handling, particularly during hanging-in and lifting-out of the side walls.
A two-part hinge is disclosed, for example, in the DE-GM No. 8,222,340. In this hinge a lower hinge part mounted on the vehicle forms an upwardly open bearing shell which is open in two axial direction and receives a pivot axle which is held at both sides in side walls of an upper hinge part. The side walls of the upper part form therefore a protection against axial displacement of the upper part of the hinge. The bearing shell of the lower part has in its central region a vertical slot which extends from the front portion of the same with the same width over the lower and up to the rear portion. This slot serves in hung-in position of the side wall in cooperation with a disc mounted on the pivot axle, for protecting against an unauthorized lifting-out of the side wall. For lifting-out of the side wall, it must be turned downwardly by 180.degree. and subsequently raised from the bearing shell. This raising is possible, since in this position of the side wall, the disc because of its one-sided hexagonal flattening, is disengaged from the slot. The lifting-out of a side wall is therefore characterized in the known hinge by two movements, namely the downward turning of the side wall and the subsequent raising-out from the bearing shell. This is disadvantageous since the downwardly turned side wall can be uncontrollably lifted from the bearing shell and dropped. This can take place, for example, during maneuvering of the vehicle when the downwardly turned side wall runs on a resistance.
Similar disadvantages are characteristic for the hinge disclosed in the DE-GM No. 7,501,762. In this hinge two bearing blocks formed of a sheet metal are mounted on a vehicle chassis with a lateral distance from one another and each form respectively an upwardly open bearing shell. A bearing pin welded on a bracket deformed from a sheet metal is inserted with projections extending beyond the bracket into these bearing shells. Each projection has at its one side a flattening which in cooperation with the contour of the bearing recess of the abovementioned bearing blocks prevents lifting-out of the respective side wall in raised condition. However, it allows an uncontrollable lifting-out in the turned-down condition.
The German Pat. No. 2,748,185 shows a two-part hinge whose lower part is mounted on a vehicle and whose upper part is mounted on the respective side wall. The lower part has an upwardly open bearing shell which is closed in an axial direction at its one end and receives a pivot pin mounted on the upper part and defining the pivot axle of the hinge. An axle is further provided in the lower part at the closed side of the bearing shell in alignment with the pivot axle. This further axle is engaged in the turned upwardly condition of the side wall with a hook mounted on the upper part. A block arranged on the upper part and carrying the pivot pin, and this hook, together prevent an axial displacement of the side wall, whereas lifting of the latter in the turned upwardly condition is prevented by the hook engaging the abovementioned further axle on the lower part. The disadvantage of this hinge is that during the downward turning of the side wall even over a relatively small turning angle, the hook no longer engages with the axle and from this position an inadvertent lifting-out of the side wall is possible.
A liftable-out door hinge is disclosed in the DE-OS No. 2,628,951, particularly for power vehicles, which has a vertical hinge axle. An upper branch part carries a spherical hinge pin which defines the hinge axle and engages in a cup-shaped recess in a lower branch part. A lifting-out protection is formed by a radially projecting safety blade provided in the upper branch part and engaging in a slot recess in the other hinge blade. The safety blade is concentric with the hinge pin but surrounds the latter only partially. This hinge possesses the disadvantage in that the door plate can be lifted-out in an outright manner, as soon as the safety blade leaves the slot recess.